Paris

"Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." - Lincoln

Having visited Paris before, I was disappointed at first that my group, API, would be heading there during my time here in Europe. Since it was a free trip though, I went and I saw and I conquered another city that I had previously misjudged.

We left Granada on Thursday, forcing me to miss a day of class, which I willingly accepted, and headed to Sevilla for our flight. After our bus trip there, we arrived about 4 hours early, so we waited, and finally were able to enter the checked zone. During this time I noticed that Sevilla’s airport was kind of lax on its security, as I passed the security check point holding Shawn’s ticket, and he with mine, an honest mistake, but all the while we were not told off.

A few hours later we arrived in Paris, and then headed by bus to our hotel in the Bastille district. Oh Bastille, Victor Hugo always comes to mind for me, as he wrote about the uprising on the Bastille in Les Miserables. Well, we stayed near this area, which today is only a monument because in the late 1800s the people tore down the real Bastille since it was a political prison that was despised by all.

Enough history, because so many trips before I have written far too detailed accounts, here is something shorter. A best of Paris.

The top five things that I did in Paris:

Number one was going to the Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre district of town. The Sacre Coeur is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, I believe, and I had a great time here once again, as there were people playing music, and others with tourist trick, all the while watching the sunset out over Paris. This district, the Montmartre, is on the north side of Paris, and it was the part of town where the intellectuals and artists lived during the early 1900s, like Picasso and Van Gogh. I could easily see myself living there.

Number two would be another walk that I did, this time it was around the Eiffel Tower at night. For five minutes every hour the Eiffel tower goes from its usual beautiful color to a glittering spectacular sight as thousands of lights show like fireworks exploding. Awe-inspiring is one way to describe it. We were also blessed to see the Eiffel tower blue at night, as currently France is celebrating being a part of the EU, and therefore it's blue.


Number three, we will keep with the walks, and this was as we spent some time on the Champs Elysees at night. The Champs Elysees is Paris’ big street, and they had a festival there during our visit which gave it a carnival feel. The lights on this street made it Christmas for me, and gave the city of lights a special appeal.


Number four, this would be my visit to the Musee d'Orsay. I loved this museum. If you are ever in Paris go to it. The Louvre may be the most famous museum in the world, and it deserves this recognition, but the Orsay has so many great painters, that I truly love. I was able to see Monet, Manet, Picasso, Renoir, and Van Gogh to name a few, as well as many of their most famous paintings.

Finally, there are too many other things that I would like to name, and cannot, so I will just list few things I did that I enjoyed. There was the short time I spent at the most exotic mall in the world, I would guess, the Galleries Lafayette. Situated next to the Paris Opera House, which is home to the Phantom of the Opera, I was in a mall that I could not afford even a pen. They had every designer store you could imagine, and it was packed. Then there was just walking around the streets of Paris that I loved, as the style of the buildings, and the cities set up just really intrigued me. Meanwhile, crepes, I ate a few, and they were delicious. This brings me to another food item, Nutella, if you don’t know it, I recommend buying it. Finally, I visited the grave of the late great Jim Morrison, the singer for The Doors. This was the most elaborate cemetery I have ever been in, with the graves being incredibly gaudy. Visiting Jim was a highlight because I took a Rock History class last year, and I thought it would keep me in good graces with my father back at home. Then there was my trip to Versailles. I have to give you some details on it. It was huge. I have visited way too many castles/palaces/ cathedrals at this point, because I wasn’t really thrilled with it, but the history of Versailles, the grounds, and the views made it a worthwhile side trip.

The return trip had us arriving at Charles D Gaul way too early, but eventually we made it to our plane, and then on to Malaga this time, before we headed home to old Granada.